June 6, 2006
The Zilberman Method
Last night, TA held an informational meeting for parents of children going into second grade on the Zilberman method. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to attend, so when I got home last night, I did a little online research to see what I could learn. There isn't much online (an inquiry on LOOKJED along with a few responses is pretty much the only formal discussions I found), so I thought I'd do my best to summarize what I know, and hopefully folks can chime in to give a more complete picture.
For those unfamiliar with the Zilberman method, it was started about 20 years ago by R. Yitzchok Shlomo Zilberman, who founded a school in the Old City that took an approach to Torah learning based on the Mishneh in Pirkei Avos (age five for Torah, ten for Mishneh, fifteen for Talmud); in the past, this approach has been championed by the Maharal and the Gra, but not widely adopted. The Zilberman approach reportedly gained popularity in Israel, and recently (within the past five years, I believe) was instituted in a number of schools in Lakewood. TA's R. Leventhal went to Israel a few years ago to learn the Zilberman method, and began teaching a single class at TA in the style; after making aliyah last year, R. Pollack received instruction in the method and continues in R. Leventhal's place.
The Zilberman method, based on Pirkei Avos, focuses on Chumash for younger boys, but the method is applied as well to Mishneh and Gemara. The method focuses on laining the Chumash with the ta'amei ha'mikra (tropp), and includes repitition so as to familiarize the student with the text as much as possible. Basically, the class will take a section of Chumash, learn to lain it with the tropp, and repeat it several times in order to commit it to memory (I do not know if, in American schools, this includes translation). This is in contradistinction to the traditional approach, which does not focus as much on memorization, but in understanding the story, words and explanation of the text (usually based on Rashi). Besides familiarity and memorization of the text, the Zilberman approach touts many other benefits as well (R. Kahane sent a letter explaining these, but there was little substantive information other than vague platitudes to the quasi-supernatural inherenet knowledge of the method's proponents).
TA's current approach is to start a Zilberman method class in second grade, continuing through the rest of elementary school; I do not know if they take the Zilberman approach beyond Chumash, or, if once Chumash is completed, they begin a traditional Mishneh/Talmud curriculum (I don't know for sure, but I am guessing the Nach portion is skipped over in American schools). The goal here, I believe, is to provide the student with knowledge and familiarty with verses quoted in the Mishneh/Talmud, saving them the need to open a Chumash and learn the relavent text while learning a sugya.
That's about as much information as I have; my intial reactions to hearing about this method a year or so ago was that, for American students, this approach does not make sense. For Israeli boys, fluent in Hebrew, a simple laining of the Chumash may be enough to convey the plain meaning of the text; in America, where Hebrew is mostly unlearned in a linguistic fashion, it would seem that while the students absorbed the text in a superficial fashion, there would be no real understanding, and certainly no critical understanding. What would result is a familiarty with the text, making it easier to incorporate into later gemara learning.
Recently, however, my opinion changed. My son is in R. Pollack's first grade class at TA; for Parshas Noach, R. Pollack has been teaching them both the traditional and Zilberman method (I don't know this for a fact, all I know is that Ezra has been wanting to lain his Chumash instead of reading and translating; he does, however, still know the translation, which leads me to believe that R. Pollack is teaching both methods). I have to say, I am very impressed with Ezra's knowledge; he is able to lain the psukim covered in class, and has shown interest in laining other parts of Chumash that he has yet to learn (he enjoys reading with the tropp). I really don't have enough information to make a conclusive decision as to whether or not I would want him taking this approach fully, but I am much more inclined after this than before. In addition, comments I have heard from parents with older students have been positive.
I am interested in finding out if there are any professional/academic assessments of this approach (beyond what assorted "gedolim" say), and if the Zilberman method has any correlations in other educational approaches. There is little information online (a Yahoo Search for "zilberman method" should turn up the few pages out there, mostly schools advertising their programs or newsgroup threads), hopefully we can get some good discussion in the comments, maybe even from some people who went last night, or have children in the program at TA.
Update: I did find references to the "Barkai system," which, based on this paper entitled, "An Analysis of the Implementation of The Barkai Method in the Orot Etzion School System," by Steven Esses, sounds similar to the Zilberman method.
As you mentioned, it would be helpful to look at decent academic research to determine the effectiveness of the method. Given that it is 20 years old it would be helpful to go back and study the program's graduates and somehow objectively compare them with their traditional peers.
Another question is, other than a closer adherence to the Mishna in Avot, what is this method supposed to accomplish in the long-term as the child transitions into young adulthood and real adulthood? In addition, would this approach be as useful for those who will not be in "Kollel track" as it will for those who will be?
I'm trying not to take a position on this one way or the other. But any time that a paradigm shift like this is being proposed, this is information that I would need to sell me on the idea.
Posted by: Dr. E at June 6, 2006 12:38 PMWhat I never understood is in what meaningful way is "mishna" and "talmud" defined as *the* mishna and *the* Talmud (Bavli), since it is from Avot which is certainly not talking about those, or at least not Talmud Bavli, but more likely a method of learning.
Posted by: S. at June 6, 2006 1:26 PMS, very true. R' Weinberg used the Rambam's definition of Mishna as Halachos Pesukos (Like the Yad) and Gemara as the methodology of thinking in learning.
Yet the one Zilberman school I saw in the Old City was learning Mishnayos.
Posted by: yehupitz at June 6, 2006 1:34 PMS, see the gemara in Kiddushin that says one should divide his time into three parts. Mishneh means the statements of the tannaim, whereas talmud or gemara refers to svaros and other types of pilpul learning.
Posted by: Greg at June 6, 2006 1:51 PMMy son studies in the Zilberman school in the old city of jerusalem, and I know the kehilla very well.
It is a very good system at a young age - the children love what they do - it seems that young children prefer memorization over deep understanding; at older ages it is important for you to supplement your sons education and make him think - otherwise neurological cells will die (no, I'm not making this up).
All in all, I give it a thumbs up - email me if you want more information
Posted by: Moshe at June 6, 2006 5:21 PMWe're seriously considering a Zilberman school for our first grader in Shaalvim. The method is picking up steam all over Israel, and luckily different streams of hashkafot are embracing it (from a Shaalvim hashkafa through the chareidi-cheder model, at least). We have a good friend (now in his 20s) who went to Zilbermans in the Rova and mainstreamed easily into Mamad; indeed, we've received many recommendations from enthusiastic kids (!) and their happy parents who promote the system as one that gives the boys a strong sense of accomplishment and achievement. Derech agav -- Moshe, was your son fluent in kriya before kitah aleph?
Posted by: Tamar at June 7, 2006 2:51 PMoh, I forgot to post a link to the Shaalvim Zilberman's website:
http://dvir.org/
Very informative. check out the video footage too!
Gregg,
I commend you for taking this proposed shift in your son's curriculum seriously. Many parents who enroll their children in this system (I can only speak for TA) did so not because of the perceived educational benefits of the system (more on this below) but because TA has taken the wholly irresponsible step of staffing the Zilberman track with the "good" rabbeim and teachers (yes, some of the rabbeim and teachers in TA are burned out... get over it) leaving the majority who do not subscribe to this method with the leftovers. Because these parents did not look into the method but followed the good staff, I have heard of many children who drop out of the program because, regardless of the prowess of the staff, its just not for them. When a child drops out of this program, he requires lots of serious tutoring in order to be re-mainstreamed.
The premise of the program is that Tanach is the foundation for Mishna which is the foundation for Gemorah. Thus, one should know Tanach fully before beginning Mishna, and one should know Mishna fully before beginning Gemorah. Thus, constant review of the subject matter is critical. The program basically works by osmosis. When one reviews the pasuk (or Mishna – TA’s program has not gotten that far yet... time will tell how that works out) a hundred times, one knows the pasuk forever... (Yes, this 100x review is also literally taken from Pirkei Avos.) Because immersion in the subject matter is crucial to success, the program succeeds in E”Y and arguably in Lakewood. This is because, in E”Y, the children go to school 6-7 days per week. There are no summer vacations or other breaks in the school year. And, most importantly, there are no general studies. In Lakewood, they have attempted to mimic the E”Y model, and there too, vacations/breaks are substantially minimized and the children have school on days when most other schools are off. TA, of course, has summer/winter breaks, has numerous ˝ days during the school year, and has a healthy (some might disagree with that characterization!) general studies program. Roughly 3 hours per day is devoted to Limudai Kodesh. This is clearly insufficient for an immersion-type program.
In addition, the program is not for everyone. Some have argued that it is better suited for children who have trouble with reading and/or reading comprehension because memory and repetition is stressed while reading and comprehension is not. Some have argued that brighter children will more easily get bored with the constant repetition and will become behavior problems, will not experience the success that is apparently a lynchpin of this program, and will be forced to re-mainstream at a tremendous educational (and financial) cost—tutoring is not cheap. You will have to talk to parents whose children have succeeded and to those whose children have not and make your own decision. If you can talk to the children and get their honest perspective, you should have enough information to make up your mind.
P.S. While you were not looking for "gedolim" opinions regarding this issue, I personally spoke with many of the leading Jewish educational “experts” (many of whom are considered "gedolim", though not by all) regarding this issue and none of them thought that the program’s claimed strengths and successes were sufficient to break the “Chazaka” that we have of educating our children in the manner we have for countless generations. R’ Mattisyahu Solomon was not one of the "experts" I spoke with, but he has purportedly expressed support for TA’s program.
"(yes, some of the rabbeim and teachers in TA are burned out... get over it)"
Why should we get over the fact that we have subpar teachers in our schools?
Posted by: AlanLaz at June 8, 2006 8:24 AMAlan,
Apparently my irony was lost on you. TA will not admit that some of their staff is burned out. Admitting the problem is the first step towards solving it. Once they get over the fact that some of their staff is burned out, then they can begin the process of replacing them with young, enthusiastic staff.
Posted by: cp at June 8, 2006 9:31 AM
